On this day in 1967, he happened to appear at an exhibition at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. His gimmick of fielding four players against nine began with his response to losers taunts. Free returns. For softball training videos, training aids, softball equipment, or softball bats visit softballjunk.com/. It was a mismatch, Feigner said in an interview with a publication of the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Science Center. Later, Booth, who was recruited by Feigner out of the Army at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, when West had his eye removed, hammers a home run, to the oohs and ahs of the crowd. Nationals Park, Washington: 76 I can only imagine he was something to have watched. If you swing at the ball, youll strike out every time.. 2. One time he was even able to strike a person out from centerfield. He often told people it was a good feeling to know he was unique. The manager challenged Feigner to prove it. Meanwhile, as ESPN colleague Doug Kern points out, the last four Rays home games drew just 61,897. 18. He said: Im a pipsqueak because Im caught in a nothing game. Pitchers with speed and a varied repertoirelike current U.S. Olympians Finch, Lisa Fernandez, and Cat Ostermanmake life almost impossible for even the best hitters. Williams was right, just not as precise as he could have been. "We can't compete with modern entertainment," Hoppe said. He was like a drill sergeant who drills you every day and you never do anything right.". Yet, "It's like Bob Feller said: `I can still throw as hard as I ever did. You get to touch people and leave them with a message.". This Amateur Softball Association (ASA) had forbidden its members to play against Eddie Feigner and his team. Either that, or an outtake from "Twilight 4: Team Timmy No-Hits Team Edward.'' As one batter put it, I was waiting for a pitch, heard a noise, watched the catcher throw the ball back. ", With West, the Max Patkin of the team, a patch covering his left eye which he lost to cancer two years ago, motioning Booth to keep quiet, Feigner answers, "I dunno. So, thank you for showing others what a great athlet he was. A story is told of the time he stood in right field at Yankee Stadium and fired an underhand fastball over home plate. For Hoppe, it all started in 1961 when he was a junior in high school and saw Feigner and his team play in Bayonne. In his final game as a pitcher, Ruth allowed five runs on 12 hits, walked three and struck out none in a complete game at the end of the 1933 season. The King and His Court remain the Harlem Globetrotters of fastpitch. He threw an in-raise as well as an in-drop pitches others couldn't figure out how to throw. Gary leland is a new media producer of fastpitch softball. On February 18, 1967, Feigner appeared in a celebrity charity softball game against manyMajor Leagueplayers.in which, Feigner retired from pitching after suffering astrokein 2000 but continued to tour with his team, acting asemceeand telling stories while the team played. Someone like Feigner who can throw a softball 100mph with accuracy is going to strike out a lot of batters. Sadly, I'm talking about the King and His Court, the barnstorming softball team started by the late Eddie Feigner some 65 years ago. 15. Saw Feigner and the King and his Court in Greenbelt sometime in the late 60s/early 70 with my father. He would be able to pitch against some of the biggest names in Major League Baseball. Will King and His Court die when he retires? If you haven't seen the King and His Court, well, it's your own damn fault. It will end where it should. The six? But its usually not just Team USAs opponents who struggle to score. I also fear Buck Showalter's head would probably explode if a player showed up looking like this. Starbucks won't go to towns the Court does. Patrick Villanova/The Jersey Journal He stands blindfolded, some 40 feet from home plate, gleefully hurling pitch after pitch at weary batters as fans in Linden's Memorial Park cheer on the peculiar . Thats roughly what Finch, Fernandez, and Osterman did these two weeks except they didnt allow as many hits. Softball Pitching Funny video about King and his Court Hillhouse Dec 30, 2021 Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web. Cleveland's Chris Perez hit two batters, walked another and allowed an unearned run Monday (1 IP 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP) while Atlanta Jair Jurrjens pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings despite allowing 13 baserunners (6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 1 K). Don't add another wild card and a hokey one-game playoff -- just eliminate the wild card. (And don't rule out the Rays grabbing this year's wild card spot yet.) SUCH IT has been the last six weeks for the Court, which has toured Hawaii, Taiwan, and Korea and Japan at the behest of 8th U.S. Army sports and recreation services outlets at Camp Zama and nearby Yokosuka Naval Base. I was lucky enough to be invited to watch and film. Good luck, Jeff. Marshall, thanks for sharing! But if youd like to know what the game was like around 1900, Olympic softball is probably a better analogue than the current iteration of Major League Baseball. The fastest documented pitch ever thrown by a major league pitcher is 103 mph. In softball, there are no famous hitters, only famous pitchers. This is a story on sports legend Eddie Feigner" a.k.a. Senator issues ultimatum to Japans prime minister for return of imprisoned Navy officer, Air Force command climate investigation ends with Okinawa commanders removal, First hearing of Houses new Chinese threat committee converges on Taiwan, Army secretary says recruiting troubles are very serious and fixing them could stretch into 2024, You matter: Mother and son spread homemade inspiration at US air base in Japan, K-Town Now features the latest news from the Kaiserslautern Military Community. "It became my anchor," Hoppe said. I just thought that was normal. I Can See The Steam Spouting From the Steinbrenners' Ears From Here: You want a meaningful race between the Yankees and Red Sox? After last Thursday's game in Linden, Hoppe, who has been clean and sober for two decades, briefly shared his story with the crowd. It was a great event, and here is . <p> </p> <p>A few weeks ago the King And His Court came to the Dallas Area. In 1981, there was a strike in Major League Baseball. 194 Softball Trivia Podcast | King and His Court Original Pitcher "Now every pitcher has to be a big, strong pitcher. Larry Rankin from Oklahoma on April 26, 2018: I'd heard of this guy before, but you certainly gave me a great deal more insight into it. "It's magical and joyful in a way, but this has been on my radar since 1958 when I was a kid in the stands and saw the King for the first time. Those days are long gone -- now luxury suites and revenue streams are all-important -- and based on the vast expanses of orange, empty seats always visible at Marlins games, those days may have never existed here. He still signed free autograph after free autograph, as his players hustled programs. Though the Americans did much better this time around with 51 runs in nine games, when great players face off, softball is clearly a pitchers game. Kids who are 10 or 11 years old, they click on the boob tube and say why play fastpitch when there's no pro league, you can't get a scholarship offer for it, and I can play baseball, football, basketball and make good money at it? (But) we're part sport and part vaudevillian," Feigner insists, adding that written into their show is a myriad of laughs that never end as each inning passes. He pitched for Kilburg's Grocery store. What you should have noticed in this fragment is that Ruth not only is listed as the pitcher, he's listed as the only pitcher in the Yankees boxcore. The guest nearly falls out of his seat. You may also leave questions, or comments on our call in line 209-softbal. "Almost all the good pitchers the last 20 years came from Canada or New Zealand; that kept ASA alive the last 10 or 15 years. Feigner had been pitching in the Green Pea League of Walla Walla Valley. HE HAS carried over the years more than 30 players at one time or another in his troupe, including three former major leaguers. Feigner knew he was the only one of his kind in the history of the world. It would be really fun to watch videos of some of that stuff. It's beyond dangerous, it's numb.". "I miss the guy, I really do. If you have a few young girls/guys looking to get into baseball or softball then taking them to one of these games would be a great event for the whole family! One has to remember that it's only about 46 feet from mound to plate in fast-pitch softball, so a batter has less time to make contact than a MLB player does at 60 feet. "It's entertainment -- it's comedy," Hoppe says. As the games rules were liberalized, the names for the pitches eventually changed. The four players of the King and His Court easily beat the nine-player prison team 7-0. They wore patriotic-looking uniforms and blended vaudeville bits into their ballgames. Enthralled by what he saw, Hoppe hooked up with Feigner's crew for Midwest tours the following two summers. He's toed the same athletic fields as the legendary Jim Thorpe, traipsed through Tibet and rubbed elbows with the Dalai Lama. He and his Court were able to defeat a team with nine players. This often happened on the nearest street. It played in Saudi Arabia, the jungles of Thailand and near the DMZ between North and South Korea. They keep the batters guessing with rise balls, drop balls, curves, and in-shoots. CAMP ZAMA, Japan — The guest shook the strong, firm right hand, gazed into the ruddy face, stared for a moment at the graying, thinning trademark flattop crew cut. Eddie Feigner winds up during a game at Camp Zama, Japan, in May, 1989. considered signing a hotshot Canadian softball pitcher. 2023 Stars and Stripes. The first game for the King and His Court took place behind the barbed wire and high walls of a prison. Safeco Field, Seattle: 87 Then those two teams will really have something to play for. The Marlins are about to enter their final month at their home stadium, which has had seven official names (if you count minor changes from Park to Stadium and from Dolphin to Dolphins), none of them ever spoken in endearing terms. The King and His Court came to Davenport in the Summer of 1965. (Its worth noting, though, that pitchers dont dominate the game to the same extent in mens fast-pitch softball. Feigner has performed for U.S. troops during the Berlin Airlift, pitched in full view of Soviet guardsmen in Red Square, pitched against a Cuban team in 1952, featuring a hot major-league prospect, Fidel Castro, who would shun baseball and lead his country through a revolution and retain power 37 years later. Feigner played in front of millions of people and traveled millions of miles around the world. To do more than one tour, you're certifiable," Hoppe said. He would even pitch blindfolded. He pitched for Kilburg's Grocery store. I remember seeing them in commericals as a kid, pretty sure it was Bud or Lite Beer commericals. No town was too small for them, no fans too unimportant. Of who might take it over, such as his son, Eddie Jr., by first marriage — he has been married three times — Feigner says, "In sports, they say they'll never replace so-and-so. Eventually, they began to travel around the globe to play softball. The decline of fastpitch, Feigner says, began shortly after he left the service. Into that steel trap memory delves Feigner, 65, a fastpitch softball trouper for some 44 years. I give this one a difficulty rating of 6.0. Of course, the Stones never played my hometown or the hundreds of other towns that are even smaller. Softball never had the following or respect of Major League Baseball. Today, there are no great pitchers left out there. Please visit our sponsor Online Fastpitch Softball Superstore It all began in 1946. He struck out all six. Eddie Feigner was asked to participate. Which brings up an interesting question: When was the last time the starting pitcher appeared in box scores on consecutive days with no runs allowed in either game? The rottenest thing to happen to softball was moving back the mound from 43 to 46 feet" in 1949, Feigner said, adding it was done because a few pitchers tended to dominate batters from the closer distance. It's always been my Yankee Stadium. Top Rated Plus. 21. HDFeigner, thank you so much for your kind comment. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. "After my brother died and that 100 days that followed, I literally had lost everything," Hoppe said. Register Log in Dec 30, 2021 #1 Hillhouse Aug 21, 2008 2,053 113 Why You've Never Heard of the Best Athlete Ever Dec 30, 2021 #2 Rolling Hard Apr 20, 2018 3,842 113 SoCal I wonder if he wanted to be a MLB player if he would have done so well. Inductees have included Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Vin Scully, Satchel Paige, and others. After the game was over, many of the players gathered at a tavern. They started their first cross-country tour. Nobody could even touch the ball. He even pitched blindfolded from second base for one inning. What amazed most fans that day was how he was able to strike out all of them in a row. 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